For this week: Optimist; Artful Travelers; the bottom 90%; expert opinions; European jobs; America's political parties; tax returns; whose science?; U.S. Congress; taxes and the IRS; economics, kids and parents; Oscar uproar; the RC Church in Poland and the U.S.; a sad date in American history; judicial independence; China and the U.S.; the dimming of the world's "eyes in space;" Sears, gone; beyond the current news glut; in CO: fracking, jobs, $, and the neighborhood; myth of the modernizing dictator, 2018; too much cash; English only? Throughout, CSM references the Christian Science Monitor.

Optimist, 21 October. A very giving couple: hugs, meals, unexpected presents, including a kidney. Bob Ross, PBS's beloved "artist in residence." Pakistan's Johnny Appleseed, and then some. Do your part, ten steps in your everyday life that can help to slow global warming.
      14 October. Horses remember you, at least Liam Nessen thinks they do. At 85, he was still helping and working, then his customers stepped in. Who has been using your phone lately? Maybe your pet gecko?

Artful Travelers. The last cruise my wife and I took was with Artful Travelers. If you want more than just cruise stops at interesting places, you might want to visit artfultravelers.com  Our cruise had a "spotlight on PBS and NPR."

Bottom 90%. Adding to last week's entry, another report on how those with lower incomes are faring. The 2008 debacle hit everyone hard, but the top 10% have recovered nicely. Author Matt O'Brien says, "...the ultimate luxury good of the past 10 years has been the economic recovery itself." Of course, most any set of statistics can be used to play many tunes.

Talk to yourself? "Yes, of course I do. Sometimes I need an expert opinion."

Austerity Mexican style. Mexico's president elect, López Obrado, will sell his nation's presidential Boeing Dreamliner and fly commercially and take a 60% pay cut. Lopez is following the lead of several other austerity-minded leaders in Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador.

European job generators. They may not be in these nation's capitals. Lille, France's 10th largest city, provides an example. From the Economist, "A city [that was] battered by the loss of industry and the closing of the northern French mines is reinventing itself as a techy [sic] business hub."

Democrats, Libertarians, Republicans, Others? Joseph Postell (University of CO at Colorado Springs) argues that one of the nation's serious problems is that today's political parties are not strong enough. Professor Postell argues that, "Great political parties of the past put party principles above candidate personalities and institutionalized resources to maintain coalitions based on principle." An interesting thought.

Your tax return. Are you paying your fair share? In the CSM, Peter Grier opines that most Americans expect others to pay their fair share. "After all, the entire United States tax system rests crucially on self-assessments."
     Presidents are expected to release their tax returns. Nixon's were not all that favorable; Carter's showed his modest, uncomplicated wealth. What of President Trump? "This is the context for the New York Times’ massive investigation of the “tax schemes” President Trump participated in during the 1990s – actions that included instances of “outright fraud,” and greatly increased the fortune Mr. Trump received from his parents, according to the Times."

Science, mine or yours? U.S. District Judge William Alsup has admonished the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for "cherry picking" its scientific facts it used to make a recent ruling in an endanger species decision. He has ordered a review of the decision.

114th Congress. With all the back and forth over the Kavanaugh nomination, one might ask just "who" serves in Congress. Here is a link a profile of the 114th from the Congressional Reference Service. Fn 1 notes: "[These figures include]... 100 Senators, 435 Representatives, 5 Delegates (from the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands), and 1 Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico."

DJT and the IRS. One important take away from columnist Catherine Rampell is that "Beyond all the Trump-specific takeaways — such as, duh, we need to see his tax returns — two much broader policy conclusions shouldn’t get lost here:

1. We need to adequately fund the IRS.

2. What’s scandalous here isn’t just what’s illegal. It’s also what is legal."

     What the upper 1% can legally avoid paying may be just as important as what may be outright illegal. As to your chances of being "caught," Rampell notes, 

This year, we are on track to notch the fewest tax fraud prosecutions on record, about one-third the level seen 30 years ago....Since fiscal 2011, the audit rate for big corporations (those with at least $10 million in assets) has fallen by half; for house holds making at least $1 million in income, it’s down by two-thirds.

Welfare queens beware! Upper 1%, not so much!

Economics, kids and parents. A study from Harvard deals with downward mobility. "[T]he data released this week strongly suggests that the same forces holding lower-class kids back are creating difficulties for middle- and upper-class families, as well." If correct, this signals a problem with a long-cherished dream: parents should be able to insure their children should become more prosperous than their parents.

Oscars, 2018. It appears that some directors, actors, even individuals associated with several Oscar-nominated films will not be able to attend this year's presentations. At least one, a Syrian and member of the "White Helmet" rescue organization, was nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. President Trump's travel ban is the culprit. Should any be among the winners, the presentation speeches of their replacement-receptors are sure to be widely broadcast.

Roman Catholic Church. Link to a story about the Polish film "Kler." (A disparaging term for clergy.) Note the startling statistic: the opening weekend set a national record and in the film's first three weeks reportedly 10% of Poland viewed the film. (That would be equal of 30,000,000 viewers in the U.S.)
     In the U.S., the Justice Department has entered the fray, issuing subpoenas in several states relating to recent stories regarding state investigations of clerical abuse, both alleged and admitted.

20 October 1947: A sad date in American history as the U.S. House Un-American Activities committee began its anti-communist witch hunt hearings, making Senator Joseph McCarthy (R, WI) a national figure. McCarthy was later censured by the Senate. The committee's chief counsel, Roy Cohn (a controversial figure in his own right), also became newsworthy; he went on to be an early legal adviser to President Trump.

Judicial independence. George Will's latest column discusses the vote in AZ on judicial independence. Including its ties to the recent Kavanaugh appointment.

China and the U.S. A new cold war in the offing? This article, from the CSM, examines the view from both sides. Many in the Chinese government may well still harbor their ancient disdain for the "barbarians" of the West. Important, too, one can only wonder how much of the "Big Picture" may not be apparent to the neophytes in the president's State Department.

Eyes in space. This article from Space News discusses the consequences of inadequate planning and funding for the inevitable problems as Hubble, Chandra, and other space-based telescopes age and go off-line. In the not too distant future we may be back to the earth-based telescopes which are very good, but still hampered by being down "here," not up "there".

Sears' bankruptcy. In this remembrance piece, Micheline Maynard reflects on the place of not only Sears' many stores, but each department store in both big-city and small-town America.

The Big Picture. Those of a certain age may remember yesteryear's TV show of the same name. Columnist  Fareed Zakaria reminds us that with the world's on-rushing, 24-hour news cycle we need to search "beyond the madness." So true!

Fracking. Voters in CO will vote on "Colorado Proposition 112, Minimum Distance Requirements for New Oil, Gas, and Fracking Projects Initiative." (This issue was noted in an earlier blog.) Significant amounts of outside money are being poured into advertising, both pro and con. Against: loss of jobs and tax revenue. The initial opposition ads emanated from and featured easily identifiable industry-related figures. In these days just prior to the election, those opposed have shifted gears, assembling an interesting group to make their point: former mayors, governors, revered clergy, sports figures, all from diverse groups. For: safety, health, and esthetics. Those favoring 112 have produced no really new ads. Unfortunately, those concerns which open this story from the Christian Science Monitor seem not to have been replicated in the TV media market.

Immigration. As the so-called immigrant "caravan" wends it way from Guatemala through Mexico towards the Rio Grande, President Trump vows to deploy as many military units as it takes to seal the border. The CSM has begun an entire series devoted to immigration.

 

It’s not because of immigration itself that immigration has become such a divisive issue, says Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. Rather, it makes some people nervous about their neighborhoods and their jobs.  
“There’s a lot of symbolic politics,” he suggests. “I think immigration is a touchstone for other fears. Fear of demographic change is a major issue. Fear of economic change is another issue, and fear of not controlling our borders.”

2018, MBS, this year's Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, et. al..... Robert Kagan discusses the persistent myth of the "modernizing, reforming" dictator. The myth continues to embarrass all those who profess belief, as Jared is learning. Alas, Kagan writes, "Only a 'revolution from above' held any promise of reforming that traditionalist, hidebound society. You know — omelets, eggs."
     Even more sophisticated observers were proven incorrect.

During the 1960s, the political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argued that what modernizing societies need is order, not liberty. During the late 1970s, Jeanne Kirkpatrick used this argument to defend supporting “friendly” right-wing dictatorships — on the theory they would eventually blossom into democracies if the United States supported them against their opponents, but would give way to radical, communist governments if the United States withdrew support....It is remarkable how much power these kinds of arguments retain, despite their having turned out to be mostly nonsense. Kirkpatrick had it exactly backward. Communist governments were the ones that undertook reforms that led to their unraveling and a turn to democracy, however feeble.

     Our hopes for the modernization/reform of the Communist Chinese serve as the current best, big experiment. But the Chinese have long been considered themselves to be enlightened; we, the barbarians, much less so. 
     Kagan concludes, "Dictators do what dictators do. We are the ones living in a self-serving fantasy of our own devising, and one that may ultimately come back to bite us."

Dying wealthy? This series of links highlight how the U.S. tax system is structured for the benefit of the wealthy -- the so-called Giving Pledge not withstanding. Paul Allen. Article by Helaine Olen. Then, "[t]here’s an argument that no matter how well intentioned, the scale of the money being directed toward philanthropic efforts by the wealthiest Americans is further contributing to an unequal balance of power in society, even as the givers claim that’s exactly what they are attempting to address."

New candidates. The National Education Association says there are more than 1,400 teachers running for state legislative seats. Perhaps the recent spate of teachers' strikes and resultant victories has spurred a willingness to run, hopefully win, and make an impact on educational policy.

Too much cash. Vancouver, Canada, is moving to stem the flow of money coming into the city, most funds are illegally coming from China. There are estimates of as much as $800B being deposited in safe accounts in Canada.

English only? Link to a recent confrontation over language at the City Market in Rifle, CO. One can only wonder, has Ms. DeWire ever traveled to a Spanish-speaking country and just how fluent is she --  beyond, of course, finding the bathroom?

Thank you for reading.